A Song Only We Can Hear
by Seito
Summary: Side stories to 'If There's A Song In Your Heart'. Soulmates were tricky. They weren't easy to find, especially when all you had was a song in your head to guide you to them. But despite all the trials and tribulations, it was always worth it in the end. R27
1. Chapter 1

Welcome to the side stories for 'If There's A Song In Your Heart'. All side stories will (most likely) be either before the main story (aka 'how the soulmates met') or post the main story. Please read 'If There's A Song In Your Heart' first.

(Number) Years Later = the years after the end of If There's A Song in Your Heart

* * *

" _You don't love someone for their looks, or their clothes, or for their fancy car, but because they sing a song only you can hear."_

 _-Oscar Wilde_

* * *

Ever had a song stuck in your head? That was your soulmate singing or listening to that song. Music was a connection that all soulmates shared, a bond that was built, a perfect pair for each other. Two halves a whole, complete in every way.

Not everyone found their soulmate. Some choose not to look for theirs; with a world population of over 7 billion people, it was a search for a needle in the haystack for most. A few didn't want to accept such notions of fate and destiny, choosing to rebel and forge their own path. Not everyone fell in love with their soulmate, forming instead a strong friendship or a familial bond with them. So many different possibilities and combinations.

And it all started with a song in your heart.

* * *

 **Time Frame:** 2 Years Later

-Ring, Ring-

Reborn fumbled for his phone in the dark. Cracking open one eye, he scowled as he realized it was four in the morning. Snapping open his phone, he growled, "What."

"Reborn," came Viper's clear voice over the phone.

"Do you know what time it is Viper?" Reborn hissed. Sleep was a very precious commodity these days.

"I'm aware of the time difference between Italy and Japan, Reborn," Viper said.

"Re -yawn- Reborn? What's wrong?"

Tsuna rolled to his side, propping himself up, yawning as he blinked away the sleepiness. He rubbed his eye with his other hand, looking concerned.

Reborn pressed a light kiss against Tsuna's forehead, nuzzling the fluffy brown hair. "It's just Viper, Tsuna. Go back to sleep."

Tsuna nodded, clear brown eyes closing in sleep once more, drifting back into dreamland.

Reborn got out of bed, combing a hand through his black hair. He slipped into the dark living room and placed the cellphone back to his ear. "4 in the morning, Viper. You better have a good reason for waking Tsuna and me up," he growled.

"I met my soulmate today," Viper said quietly.

Reborn blinked. Out of all his friends, Viper and Verde were the two that weren't interested in finding their soulmate. Once upon a time, Reborn had counted himself in that group as well. Contrast by Fon and Skull who were actively looking and Luce, Lal and Colonnello who had already found their soulmates. Reborn had been under the impression that Viper had no interest in ever finding who their soulmate was.

"It was an accident," Viper continued.

"I don't know what you want me to say outside of congratulations," Reborn said dryly. He could be asleep with Tsuna in his arms, but Viper was keeping him up.

"He's a prince. A prince obsessed with blood," Viper complained.

"Well you never have to worry about money then," Reborn said. Money was important to Viper after all. Having a prince for a soulmate actually fit Viper very well. And blood, pssh. What was a little blood in a relationship? Just looked at Mukuro and Hibari's friendship.

"I don't want a soulmate," Viper said.

Reborn suppressed a yawn. "Then don't do anything about it. Does this prince even know you're his soulmate?"

"Yes."

Reborn peered into his shared bedroom with Tsuna. His soulmate was fast asleep, face smushed into the pillow. A fond smile and a tender look appeared on Reborn's face. "Viper," Reborn said softly. "You know that I didn't want a soulmate either once. But, I will tell you that Tsuna was the best thing ever to happen to me. If you want someone to commiserate with you about not wanting a soulmate, you need to call Verde."

Viper fell silent on the other side of the line. Then softly, "I don't know what to do."

"Never hurts to try," Reborn said. "I'm going back to bed. If you want to continue this conversation, call back at a more reasonable hour." He hung up before Viper could get another word in.

Reborn slipped back into bed, drawing Tsuna closer to him. He buried his nose into Tsuna's fluffy brown hair, breathing in the sweet shampoo Tsuna was fond of using.

"Everything all right?" Tsuna mumbled sleepily.

"Yes," Reborn said.

"Good," Tsuna said in between a yawn. "Love you Reborn."

Reborn swallowed, feeling his heart skipped a beat. Tsuna always said 'I love you', but somehow every time Tsuna said it, it was like Reborn was hearing it for the first time all over again. Reborn was so lucky, so lucky to have found Tsuna. He closed his eyes.

"Love you too, Tsuna."

* * *

A good way to start off Reborn and Tsuna's birthday right? Just one thing to note.

R27 is the main pairing in this story, but we'll be covering a bunch of different pairings. However, not all pairings will be romantic in nature. I'm a firm believer that just because you're a soulmate with someone, does not mean you have to end up in a romantic relationship with them. Best Friends, sibling, parent/child, kindred spirits relationships are all possible combinations. We're also covering a long time period (5-10 years minimum) and people's relationships with each other can change. Just keep that in mind when reading.


	2. Lullaby for a Stormy Night

Lullaby for a Stormy Night

 **Time Frame:** Tsuna's High School Years

* * *

For as long as he could remember Takeshi could hear piano music in his head and heart. Which was odd because he would later come find that less than 0.5% of people heard just the musical instrument. It was one thing to hear musical instruments while your soulmate was singing, but it was super rare to hear just instrumental. Because of its rarity, Takeshi had spent his entire childhood wondering why ever so often they would play piano music in class.

But it was a calming song, like a lullaby that would rock him to sleep.

People often said Takeshi was such a calm person, but all Takeshi was doing was channeling what the song in his head felt like: that gentle and calm embrace.

Then middle school came and Hayato transferred into their class. The silveret fell into an odd friendship with Takeshi and the rest of his friends, Tsuna in particular after the brunet had saved Hayato from a speeding car. Takeshi knew people often remarked how much oil and water he and Hayato were, never really mixing together. It was strange that they were friends. But Takeshi paid no heed to those words. Once upon a time, he might have, but well, let's just say Hayato wasn't the only one Tsuna had saved.

It was the beginning of their first year of high school that things changed. Piano music playing in his head, Takeshi headed back to his classroom to retrieve a forgotten notebook after baseball practice when he came across Tsuna sitting down in the hallway by a half opened door.

"Tsuna?" Takeshi asked.

Before he could ask anything else, Tsuna grabbed his arm, dragging the baseball player to the ground. "Shhh," Tsuna said. "Hayato is playing the piano."

Takeshi peered over Tsuna and into the room. True enough, Hayato sat at the grand piano in the music room. Then it clicked. Music synchronized and suddenly Takeshi was aware that what he was hearing in his head was the same song that Hayato was playing.

Could it be?

Drawing in a sharp breath, Takeshi drew back, too stunned to put into words.

Tsuna misinterpreted Takeshi's stunned silence. "He doesn't like playing for audiences," Tsuna explained. "But Hayato is really good, no?"

Nodding, Takeshi asked, "Do you know the title of this song Tsuna?"

"Lullaby for a Stormy Night," Tsuna replied. "Hayato mentioned once it was a lullaby that his mother use to sing to him at night before she passed away."

Sang? That meant there were lyrics? Takeshi whipped out of his smartphone, searching for the lyrics. Finding a set, Takeshi held out his phone to Tsuna. "This one?"

"Yeah," Tsuna said, bemused. Then it slid into place for Tsuna. "Wait… Takeshi, is Hayato…?"

"We'll find out soon enough," Takeshi said, leaning back against the wall, pressed against Tsuna's side. There was only way to find out for sure. Taking a deep breath, feeling the rhythm of the song, Takeshi sang.

"And someday you'll know

That nature is so

This same rain that draws you near me

Falls on rivers and land

And forests and sand

Makes the beautiful world that you see

In the morning."

The piano music stopped in Takeshi's head, stopped in the room, but Takeshi had since long memorized the beautiful calming music in his head and continued onward.

"Little child

Be not afraid

The storm clouds mask your beloved moon

And its candlelight beams

Still keep pleasant dreams

I am here tonight."

The door opened and Hayato stared out at them. For the first time as far as Takeshi could remember, the first thing out of Hayato's mouth was not "Tsuna-sama", was not "Baseball idiot", but rather a soft and gentle, "Takeshi?"

Takeshi smiled and continued to sing.

"For you know, once even I

Was a little child

And I was afraid

But a gentle someone always came

To dry all my tears

Trade sweet sleep the fears

And to give a kiss goodnight"

Hayato drew in a sharp breath. Then, to Takeshi's surprise, he returned the song.

"Well, now I am grown

And these years have shown

Rain's a part of how life goes

But it's dark and it's late

So I'll hold you and wait

'til your frightened eyes do close."

Takeshi's heart raced; hearing the words physically, in his head, in his heart, synchronizing and twisting in such a way that felt perfect, like the entire world aligned and everything felt right. He joined Hayato, finishing the song in a perfect duet.

"And I hope that you'll know

That nature is so

This same rain that draws you near me

Falls on rivers and land

And forests and sand

Makes the beautiful world that you see

In the morning

Everything's fine in the morning

The rain will be gone in the morning

But I'll still be here in the morning"

A comfortable silence fell upon them as the song ended. Takeshi smiled, staring at Hayato who looked skeptical about the entire situation.

"How?" Hayato asked, shattering the silence.

Takeshi heard the unspoken question in that single word. How did Takeshi know? "I hear your piano playing," Takeshi answered honestly.

Hayato blinked. "Less than 0.5% people can hear just the musical instrument," he pointed out.

"I know," Takeshi said, heart still pounding. There was still a small possibility that Hayato would reject him. He didn't dwell on it, knowing that despite the angry words Hayato flung, he didn't ever truly mean it.

But soulmates was such a bigger issue than a thorny friendship.

Hayato groaned, burying his head in his hands. "I own Aneki 2000 yen now. I don't know how but she knew." Looking back at Takeshi, Hayato tackled on, "Soulmate or not, I still think you're a baseball idiot."

Hope blossomed in Takeshi's chest. "Does that mean I can take you out on a date this weekend?" he asked brightly, feeling light.

Hayato glared at him. "If you're the type that turns romantic upon finding your soulmate, giving me flowers and shit, I will throw you out a window."

That wasn't a no!

Tsuna tackled glomped them both, tears shining in his eyes. "I'm so happy for you two," the smaller brunet beamed. "We should go out to celebrate. My treat!"

The three exited the school; Tsuna was walking ahead of Takeshi and Hayato, giving them the space they needed.

Takeshi hesitated, wondering what the next step was. A lot of people always talk about meeting your soulmate for the first time, but not many mention what happened after. Sure, fundamentally, most end up in a relationship with each other, but how did you get to that level? Plus, unlike most people, Takeshi knew Hayato before knowing that they were soulmate. Usually getting to know each other came after meeting your soulmate.

Sensing his hesitation, Hayato reached out, intertwined his hand with Takeshi's.

Skin tingling, Takeshi looked Hayato in the eye, curious.

"Baseball idiot," Hayato huffed. "We'll just take it one step at a time. I'm shitty boyfriend material and if you push too hard all you're going to do is rile me up more and I will go through with my promise to throw you out a window." Squeezing Takeshi's hand and a light red blush brushed on his face, he added a soft mumble, "We got the rest of our lives together, no need to rush. No one expects us to get married tomorrow or to get married at all."

Takeshi beamed. That was true. They had time to figure it out, to see if they even wanted a romantic relationship together or just a relationship built on a strange but strong friendship.

One step at a time.

* * *

 **Song:** Lullaby for a Stormy Night by Vienna Teng (remove #) youtu#.be/#mlmhMS_luX8

Hey look 8059!

I should note a lot of these chapters will be "how they get together" and most (though this one leans towards romantic) are rather open ended as to what kind of relationship it ends up developing into. Can't say much about the later chapters, especially the ones post If There's A Song In Your Heart but ya.

 _Guest Reviewers Response_

 _Alice_

Thank you!

 _Suzie_

Yes you may 8D

 _x3_

Lots of people keep suggesting that idea to me. xD I'll look into writing it one day.

 _ReDeath_

Nothing wrong with that. :P Good good. owo b Happy to help


	3. Perfect Together

Perfect Together

 **Time Frame:** Tsuna's Elementary School Years

* * *

Hana, depending on how one looked at it, was very blessed. Why you might ask? Well, you see, Hana had found her soulmate at an extremely young age. How young?

Well, it was Kyoko's six birthday party and the song Hana heard was Happy Birthday. As she grew older, she would come to shake her head that the song she and her soulmate resonated with was the simplest song in existence. Then she would fondly and resignedly sigh and acknowledge it was exactly like her soulmate to do that.

"Happy Birthday to you Kyoko!" Ryohei sang, wobbly and rough. It was slightly off key, but not so out of tune that Ryohei's parents were concerned about him not finding his soulmate down the road.

Hana covered her ears and sulked. Loudly, she complained, "How many times are you gonna sing that song?"

"Now Hana," her mother scolded. "That isn't nice. Ryohei can sing happy birthday as many times as he wants to Kyoko."

"But he's been singing it since I got up this morning," Hana complained. "He's so loud. My head hurts."

It grew so silence, you could have heard a pin drop.

First, it should be noted that Kurokawa family lived on the opposite side of town to the Sasagawa family. That meant, no matter how loud Ryohei was, it was impossible for Hana to have heard him.

Second, while it was not uncommon to find out children at this age could hear their soulmates, the odds of finding your soulmate at this age were close to nil. It wasn't that strange to find childhood friends as soulmates, but the average age for realization was usually ten or so. The kids simply don't realize it because the concept of soulmates wasn't really taught until late elementary school to early middle school levels. Family members might try to introduce the concept of soulmates early, but no parent wanted their child to find their soulmates at young of an age. Especially the fear of a much older soulmate who would influence them. Perfect matches aside, soulmates could influence each other for better or worse and most parents didn't introduce their kids to the concept of soulmates until they were more aware of themselves.

Yet here was Hana at age five and Ryohei at six and the very strong possibility of them being soulmates hung in the air. (Hana would later discover that they do actually hold the world record as the youngest discovered soulmate pair).

"You sing Twinkle Twinkle Little Star every night," Ryohei said, shattering the silence.

"I don't sing it every day!" Hana protested.

"Yes, you do!"

"At least I don't sing it over and over again like you do! And you're so loud!"

"I can sing as loudly as I want!"

"Monkey head!"

"Hana!"

At that point, parents intervened, kids were distracted by ice cream and Kyoko, bless her heart, took it all in stride, making sure another fight between her brother and best friend didn't break out for the rest of her birthday party.

-Twenty Years Later-

 _If you were the popcorn,_

 _I would be the movie._

 _If you were strawberries then,_

 _I would be the smoothie._

 _If you were October,_

 _I'd be apple cider._

 _And if you were the waffle fries then,_

 _I would be the slider._

Hana huffed, clearly exasperated by the song she was hearing in her head.

"What is it now?" Kyoko said, as she fixed Hana's makeup.

"Your brother is singing the cheesiest song he knows," Hana said dryly.

Kyoko laughed. "Tsuna will stop him. Remember, you are the one who's marrying him."

Hana smiled softly, running her hand over the silky smooth surface of her wedding kimono. "Yeah…"

 _Cause you and me,_

 _We make each other better._

 _We may not be perfect,_

 _But we're perfect together._

* * *

 **Song:** Perfect Together by Rosanna Pansino (remove #) youtu#.be#/pnhH1XiDu0Q

So outside of R27, one of the few pairings I love and adore is Ryohei and Hana. So yes, it's one of the confirmed pairings in this fic.

There have been studies on how early kids can hear their soulmates. Five is the milestone (if their other half has already been born and is roughly the same age), but it's suspected that kids can hear their soulmates even earlier, but simply lack the understanding (much less able to communicate) that they're hearing their soulmate. Imagine it similar to how you can play peek a boo with babies.

 **Also if you're interested, I've opened an online store (remove #) seiartsu.#storenvy.#com** There is also a giveaway you can enter over on my Instagram(seiartsu) and Tumblr (seitsokusha) too.


	4. Chinese Friend Song

**Time Frame** : 1 Year Later

"Reborn!"

"Fon?"

Fon smiled. "I wasn't expecting to see you here," he said. Here, specifically being in Beijing. This was the last place Fon had expected to see Reborn.

Reborn shrugged nonchalantly. "Tsuna's got a concert in the area. Right now he's being mobbed by everyone in preparation for the first show tonight."

Fon beamed. Reborn had come so far in the time since he left Italy. Tsuna, whom Fon had the pleasure of meeting the last time he was in Japan visiting his family, was well for the lack of a better word, adorable. The gentle brunet smoothed out Reborn's rough edges, which were nonexistence to everyone who hadn't known Reborn as long as Fon had. The subtle changes in Reborn, the relaxed shoulders, lips curled into a small smile instead of a smirk, and the general sense of happiness. Fon was sure that Reborn didn't even realize it.

"Enjoying your life in Japan then?" Fon asked.

"Hmm," Reborn said, wordlessly.

But the hop in his step betrayed the simple happiness Reborn had been feeling.

"Good, good," Fon said.

"And you are here, why?" Reborn asked.

"Looking for my soulmate," Fon answered. Fon had identified the language as the Mandarin dialect of the Chinese language. That was a bit of a daunting task considering that 70% of China used that same dialect. He had been searching for the last two years since he had first heard his soulmate. Outside of the language the only clues he had was that his soulmate was female and either a really young child or a new mother because all the songs he heard were local child rhymes lullabies and songs.

"Any luck?" Reborn asked. They turned down another street, passing the market and weaving in between the people. Their feet just aimlessly carrying them.

Fon's smile tightened just a fraction. "Not really. They don't attend any of the Sing Along Concerts so narrowing down their location hasn't been easy. There are so many people living in China.

The best I can do is just ask every female I come across if they have found their soulmate and if not, if they're willing to humor me and test if we were each other's soulmate."

Fon didn't hear whatever Reborn had said next as he heard a song instead.

 _Zhǎo zhǎo zhǎo péngyou_

 _zhǎodào yígè hǎo péngyou_

But more importantly, there was a slight duality to the words. Meaning Fon wasn't just hearing it in his head, he was also physically hearing the song from somewhere nearby. He grabbed Reborn's arm. "Reborn is there a female somewhere singing that you hear? The next line should be "jìng gè lǐ, wò wò shǒu"."

Reborn nodded, listening. He grabbed off Fon and dragged him off.

They turned around a corner and found themselves in front of an orphanage. There in the front yard, away from the other kids was a small girl with a braid, playing with a ball. She was the only singing, bouncing the red ball up and down.

"nǐ shì wǒde hǎo péngyou

zhǎo a zhǎo a zhǎo péngyou"

Wide eyed, Fon entered the yard and tentatively approached the girl. She couldn't be older than seven or eight. She caught the ball and looked at him warily. Fon simply crouched down to her level and sang the next verse to her song.

"zhǎodào yígè hǎo péngyou

jìng gè lǐ

wò wò shǒu"

Following the words of the song, Fon gave her a tiny salute before extending out his hand to shake hers. He waited, watching her response. Her eyes had grown wide, surprised no doubt from hearing Fon's voice in her head and physically through her ears.

Hesitating, she shook Fon's hand and finished the song with him.

"nǐ shì wǒde hǎo péngyou

zhǎo a zhǎo a zhǎo péngyou

zhǎodào yígè hǎo péngyou

xiào xī xi diǎn diǎn tóu

dàjiā dōu shì hǎo péngyou"

"Hello," Fon said, once the song had ended and feeling of duality had vanished. "I'm Fon."

"I-pin," the girl introduced herself. She looked at him warily, but curious. "I can hear you in my head!"

"Congratulations," Reborn cut in, voice drawling. Fon had almost forgotten his friend was there. "You're about to become a father."

Fon grinned. "Only if they let me adopt her."

"Adopt me?" I-pin asked, hopeful.

"If they let me and if you want to," Fon said.

"I'm sure they will," Reborn said, heading towards the building. "I'll go start the paperwork for you. You get to know I-pin."

-Six Months Later-

"Welcome home, I-pin."

"Papa!"

* * *

 **Song:** www#.#youtube#.#com/#watch?v=x4QxN0OE7b4 (remove #)

 **Translation:** www#.#chinaebooks#.#net/# (remove #)

Not every soulmate is a romantic pair. Here's a father/child one. owo b


	5. Simulation

**Year -2 (Tsuna's High School Years):** Simulation

Contrary to popular belief, Spanner's obsession with Japan did not start with robots. Despite the fact that he built crazy robots that looked like the latest Gundam, that was not the way his obsession had started.

No, it started because his soulmate was constantly singing in Japanese.

 _TUNE UP mirai kaeru nara_

 _TECHNIQUE ima wo migakanakya_

 _Hosei suru VECTOR ushinatta netsui wa_

 _Donna gijutsu demo naoseya shinai_

The first time Spanner hear his soulmate singing, he had been fourteen and working on tuning up a car. When it became apparent that he was hearing the song in his head, Spanner shot upright, hitting his head on the car hood and dropping the wrench on his foot.

From that it took four months to identify the language as Japanese, another five to transcribe and translate at least one song, a year for Spanner to become half fluent, two years to become fully fluent. Spanner was nothing, but a genius after all. Over the course of those two years, Spanner researched and researched. This was how he got exposed to Japanese culture, to green tea, robots and strawberry flavored lollipops. It was an obsession and one Spanner fully embraced. There was never any doubt in Spanner's mind that of the soulmate pair, he would be the one to move.

See, that was the thing about soulmates. Odds were you weren't born in the same country together and one of the many common trials soulmates faced was the decision as to who gave up, if they wanted to give up anything at all. Some people were attached to their lives, didn't want to separate from their families, quit their jobs, move to a whole new country, just to be with their soulmate. It was why so many people wanted to find their soulmates at a young age, before they settled down any real roots. (But traveling as an underage teenager was frowned upon in so many countries, despite the fact that teenagers had the most freedom. Lots of international colleges ended up creating partnerships for students to easily transfer between campuses.)

Spanner wasn't all that attached to his country, was fairly aloof from his family and Japan was _interesting_.

Still, Japan was a big country and Spanner wasn't sure how he was going to find his soulmate.

Until his soulmate surprised him.

Email:

 _Hello._

 _Please forgive my English. I believe you are my soulmate? You sang a song about Meiji Strawberry Flavored Lollipops and this sounds stalkerish, I tracked down the only shipments of Meiji Strawberry Flavored Lollipops to this address. After narrowing down your dialect and several other factors. If you don't mind confirming with me, please see the following song at XX date, and 10am your time. Please disregard if you are not interested._

 _Soulmate_

Spanner was thoroughly impressed. First, the Meiji Strawberry Lollipop song was something he had made up on the spot (and songs like that, they don't always translate over to their soulmates. Improvisation rarely does for some reason.) Second, his soulmate was smart enough to deduce Spanner's general location from his accent and whatever else the Meiji Strawberry Lollipop song had contained (Spanner vaguely recalled mentioning a strawberry lollipop robot so his soulmate was also probably looking for high shipments of robotic parts). Third, his soulmate had to be some sort of computer genius because Spanner's firewalls were nothing to scoff at and yet his soulmate was able to find his email.

Spanner listened to the audio file attached. He had a song to learn.

 _Yosou wo koeta SIMULATION_

 _(SIMULATION)_

 _Kikai shikake no GIMMICK_

 _Madou koto sae_

 _Keisan shiteru SUPEKKU_

 _Kikagaku moyou no rinkaku ni_

 _Whoa_

 _Osamaru koto mo dekizu ni_

 _Sousa hontou wa kimitachi wo zutto matte ita_

Three months later, Spanner was on a plane to Japan. Won't Shoichi be surprised to find out that Spanner had transferred to Namimori High School?

* * *

 **Song:** Simulation. (I'm pretty sure you guys don't need me to link to this one right?)

Spanner and Shoichi equal love. Haha. I love those two dorks. This chapter tells you some of the consideration that soulmates face (and why some don't wanna find theirs). Giving up everything just for your soulmate isn't the easiest thing to do. Also explains why just singing 'Hi my name is Tsuna, I live in Namimori' doesn't exactly work.

Happy Holidays.


	6. Too Much of a Good Thing

Whoa, it's been awhile hasn't? I was so happy when I finally got the inspiration to finish this chapter. OTL

 **Time Frame:** 5 Months Later

* * *

It was a rainy afternoon the day, two months after Reborn had moved to Japan, when Tsuna finally asked.

"Reborn," Tsuna said softly. They had been sitting by the porch, watching the rain softly fall, the pitter-patter soothing away the stress of the week. A pot of tea in between them, enjoying the quiet tranquility of the afternoon. "Why didn't you believe in soulmates when we first met?"

Mentally kicking himself for that incident again, Reborn let out a soft sigh. It was going to come out eventually.

"My parents were soulmates," Reborn said, digging up buried memories. He was never one to dwell on the past. There were too many scars, too easy to get lost in the memories and darkness. It was always better to focus forward.

"My mother and father met in a small town in France, where my mother had grown up," Reborn said in a dull tone, as if just reciting facts from his memory. "They discovered they were soulmates, my mother left with my father back to Italy two days after meeting him."

This was his mother's favorite story to tell him as a child growing up. A happy fairytale, full of love and joy. Except real life wasn't a fairytale.

"Everyone says that soulmates are the perfect matches for each other, that's there no way for their relationship to go wrong," Reborn said with just a touch of bitterness. "I watch my parent's relationship crash and burn. Being soulmates didn't stop my father from cheating on my mother, it certainly didn't stop him from hitting her the first time, or the second, or the third."

Reborn watched his parent's relationship fall apart, watched his mother cry herself to sleep every night, isolated in a country that wasn't hers, barely fluent enough to carry a conversation with others to find other means to support herself. He felt the sting of his father's punch the one time his father turned on him, the one and only time his mother stood up to his father. The messy divorce that followed, then the spiraling hell as he and his mother tried to make ends meet, all the way until the ending of his schooling when she collapsed and quietly passed away.

"I didn't want a soulmate because it meant nothing to me. It didn't promise a happy ending like everyone said it would. It was just another person I would meet and would build a relationship with. There wasn't any difference between meeting someone on a street or meeting my soulmate," Reborn said.

Reborn was one of the few that didn't want a predestined partner written in the stars. Even if there was a perfect match, it didn't mean anything. It was still something he would have to work with and something his soulmate would have work with too. Compromise, communication, all the foundations needed to build a good relationship. Years ago, he had no intention of falling in love, but if he did fall in love, he would fall in love with the person and not because the other person was his soulmate.

It just so happened to work out that the person he fell in love with was his soulmate.

"Oh," Tsuna said softly. "Do… do you… regret coming to Japan?"

It had been five months since Tsuna and Reborn had met again. Three months were spent in Italy, getting to learn each other. Tsuna always came to Italy to visit family every summer, a tradition he didn't break, even after graduating from high school. They met whenever time permitted.

Two months in, Reborn came to conclusion he would follow Tsuna back to Japan. (Unlike Tsuna, Reborn's job could easily be found anywhere. Tsuna was a rising star in Japan only.) At that point, they had settled into an easy friendship. It was an easy decision on Reborn's part. Reborn had been half in love with the voice in his head over the last five years of constantly hearing Tsuna in his head, but Tsuna knew nothing about Reborn outside of being the guy who rejected five years ago.

The most important thing that probably sealed the deal for Reborn, was there was no pushing. Tsuna, whether it was firmly because he remembered Reborn's sour personality or because of his own insecurities, simply wanted to get to know Reborn first. There was no rush into a romantic relationship that most soulmates did. If there was love, it would come later. If there wasn't, well they wouldn't be the first platonic soulmates, they wouldn't be the last either.

Regardless of how their relationship turned out, Reborn knew he didn't want to be on the other side of the world from Tsuna.

"No," Reborn said. "I wanted to get to know you and the timezone made it a little difficult."

"But," Tsuna said.

"Despite how much I will forever be an idiot for letting you walk away from me five years ago, it was probably for the best," Reborn said. It was time to rest Tsuna's insecurities. If that meant being unnecessarily wordy, then so be it. "I spent those five years hearing you nearly every day in my head. The first two years I spent in heavy denial. By the third I couldn't imagine my life without your voice, by the fourth I was in love with your music, by the fifth I was ready to buy a ticket to come to Japan to look for you."

"Ah, so," Tsuna stumbled over his words, flushing a bright red. "If I want to takeyououtonaproperdatewillyousayyes?"

"Yes," Reborn said without any hesitation, amused by Tsuna's reaction.

Tsuna broke out in a wide smile. "Really? Where do you want to go?"

"You can pick," Reborn said, smirking growing on his face. "I'm paying."

Tsuna scowled at that. "I'm the one who asked you out. I should pay!"

"Giotto is the one who will be paying," Reborn said, smug. "He owes me money."

"Why," Tsuna asked, warily, "does Giotto-nii owe you money?"

"He thought it would take you another month to ask me out on a proper date," Reborn said.

"What! I can't believe you, Giotto-nii!" Tsuna cried out.

Reborn let out a small huff, smiling as Tsuna ranted about silly overprotective brothers. Yes, Reborn could get use to this life.

* * *

So now you know why Reborn didn't believe in Soulmates in the first place. Just because you're soulmates doesn't mean automatic perfect ending. Some soulmates are too toxic for each other (You can have too much of a good thing). Usually, unless they meet young (Ryohei/Hana's case) or it's obvious (Fon/I-pin's case) most soulmates try a romantic relationship first before friendship as it's the most common form of soulmates. Some don't try, automatically knowing they're better off as friends (implied in Spanner/Shoichi's case). Some do try friendship first (Yamamoto/Gokudera due to their unique situation and clearly Reborn/Tsuna as shown). It's actually not suggested to do what Reborn's parents did, that was too fast all things considered, especially considering Reborn's mother was moving to an new country on a whim.

Also this is the last chapter for A Song Only We Can Hear. Thank you so much for reading.

Please leave a review on your way out!


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